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Mar 19

I Love Travel: Ian’s (Mis) Adventures

For more than a decade Ian Hefele has roamed the world capturing his thoughts in The (Mis) Adventures of Me. The five languages in his repertoire (Spanish, Germany, Afrikaans, Portuguese and Arabic) not only make travelling and blending in easier, they also enable Ian to teach and train overseas.

He currently lives and works in Namibia and will share his thoughts on travelling in Africa in future posts. Before we welcome him as a guest contributor here a little more about this not so quiet American.

 

Ian in Windhoek, Namibia

Ian in Windhoek, Namibia

Describe your relationship with travelling. Have you always been a globetrotter? When did you start and has your way of travelling evolved?

Travelling has been a part of my life since I first left the States in 1996 on a short trip to London, England where my sister was studying abroad whilst in college.  I spent a week there with my grandma and was just enthralled and captivated by everything going on in London.

I didn’t leave the States again until 1999 when I spent a year living in Germany to discover my roots.  While in Germany, I took advantage of the Deutsche Bahn’s ‘Schönes Wochenende’ ticket [a dirt cheap rail tickets to get around over the weekend] and traveled the country.

I loved how I could cross international boundaries and language boundaries as if I were crossing state lines back in America.  I finally broke out of western travel destinations in 2002 when I traveled to Central America and lived in Costa Rica and Guatemala. I haven’t looked back since.

Which places have you  already been to and which ones are you still keen to see?

I’m 30 years old and have stayed overnight on every continent except Antarctica.  :)   I LOVE Southern Africa and would still love to explore Botswana, Zimbabwe and Zambia.  Here is a list of countries I’ve been to so far.

  • Canada
  • USA
  • Guatemala
  • Belize
  • Nicaragua
  • Costa Rica
  • Panama
  • Cuba
  • Iceland
  • Ireland
  • Northern Ireland
  • England
  • Scotland
  • Wales
  • France
  • Belgium
  • The Netherlands
  • Germany
  • Poland
  • Czech Republic
  • Hungary
  • Austria
  • Switzerland
  • Greece
  • Turkey
  • Namibia
  • South Africa
  • Swaziland
  • Mozambique
  • Australia
  • Japan
  • Vermont :)
  • [WOW!!!]

Has travelling, living and working in different places around the world changed you? How?

Travelling has opened my eyes to the world.  It has helped me to view the world through the eyes of other cultures and my adaptability leaves many wondering where I’m actually from.  It also has me appreciate the immense privilege I enjoy when I am back home in the States.

What gives you itchy feet?

Sometimes, in the  hectic pace of American culture, I find myself longing for the time when getting two things accomplished outside the house in a day made me  happy.  When I’m traveling, I also feel that I can listen to the rhythm of this beautiful planet because I have more time and I don’t fall prey to the distractions of Western culture.

Tell us about your favourite travel moment.

I really can’t travel pinpoint a specific travel moment but I describe a feeling that I have  had in multiple countries and this is what fuels me to travel further.  I am usually sitting around a BBQ or some meal with close friends, there are lots of laughs, good music and always some dancing.  The atmosphere brings us closer together as we share travel stories and realise what is really important in life.

And what was your worst travel experience?

My worst travel experience (or emotionally the hardest) had to be in Belize.  I was traveling with two friends. We got to Belize City after dark and headed to the ATM to pull out money for our trip.  This was 2003, and Belize’s banks weren’t connected to the international bank network so none of our cards worked.

We ended up going to the casino in town and getting a cash advance at 18%!!  But only one friend’s card worked, so we were all working off of her.  The tensions were high because we couldn’t keep going to the casino and our bank cards worked nowhere else. Not even at Barclay’s Bank. It was a testing time for our friendships and when we got back to Guatemala, we were finally able to pull out money again.

Many people (that I know) identify money (or lack thereof) as the biggest hurdle to travelling. Do you think this is true? What’s your biggest hurdle and how do you tackle it?

As you see from my previous answer, money is a big hurdle, but I try to not let it rule my life. My parents once told me that money  should be a tool in life, not a goal.  That is how I try to treat it when I travel.  I know I need at least a little bit of this tool to be able to travel, so I try to have some on me.

But, my biggest hurdle is now that I am married [congratulations!!!].  My husband has a great job at home and American companies have a different view of vacation time from the rest of the world. 3 weeks per year, if you are lucky.

Traveling has taken a new dimension for me because while it is still fun to be abroad by myself, it is even more fun when Adam can do it with me.  He’s not traveled as much as I have and seeing the wonderment in his eyes as he sees things for the first time makes me want to travel all over again.

When you close your eyes and think of home, what do you see?

The people I care about.  That is a tactic I have developed to combat some homesickness that I’ve experiences over the years.  But, now, I also see Vermont.  It is such a quirky, wonderful, little State where people travel when they can and for such a small population (650,000), there is a definite international flare.

Mar 8

Yes, right. That's exactly how you change a tire...not. Photo by (ClintJCL)
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Does gender matter for travel writers?

Yes, right. That's exactly how you change a tire...not. Photo by (ClintJCL)

Yes, right. That’s exactly how you change a tire…not. Photo by (ClintJCL)

It’s International Women’s Day. Hurray and congratulations everyone!

Enough of the pleasantries. I’ve got a bone to pick (RANT WARNING). In everyday life I encounter few situations in which gender matters. I consider this overall a good thing.

The publishing of my first book unfortunately brough forth a comment I’m still digesting.

A person close to me (female, older than me) saw the cover of the book for the first time and asked ”Why don’t you use a male pseudonym?” and added “That’ll be more credible”.

“More credible”? I always thought, regardless of the genre you write in, first-hand experiences provide the most credible source of information, not whether the writer’s got a penie or not.

Similarly, if I peruse a blog, magazine or journal to learn more about a planned travel destination I don’t care so much whether the author regularly menstruates or not. Good writing, great pictures that’s what either keeps me reading or discarding the piece.

Although the comment came from a person who hadn’t read my book I’m suspecting that she was suspecting the book covered “male” topics. It’s true. I’ve written quite a few “technical” chapters covering how to identify a good car, what to look out for in engines and how to maintain the vehicle on the road.

That’s “blokey” topics, right? Wrong. If you want to buy a car you need to know what you’re buying. If you go on a road trip and don’t know how to change a tire you can’t blame it on being female, it’s simply dangerous. So, if I write a book about road trips and only talking about the pretty colours and comfortable seat cushions I’d be neglecting crucial aspects.

I’m opening the floor and hand the bat to you – does gender matter? If so why? And if not – why not?

Feb 24

Humpback Whale
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Eco Beach

What’s the opposite of feeling homesick? Itchy feet? Travel yen? Adventure seeking? Eco Beach is one of the places that make me feel that way instantly.

Eco Beach

After eight weeks of travelling in the Australian outback I didn’t feel homesick, but let’s say, my feet felt a little less itchy than before. Perhaps it was staying in one place for a little bit longer than just a few nights was what I missed. Maybe the idea of a private bathroom convinced Thorsten to find a hotel so he said he’d found something I’d like. “Like a hotel?” I asked and he just smiled.

The sun already hanging low he pulled over on the dusty road we had travelled on and turned into a narrow path. Was there signage? I’m sure there may have been, but I was tired and it was getting late.

Just after the sunset we arrived at a carpark. That it a carpark was only discernable to us because the road ended and cars were, well, parked. I searched for a torch and explored the area. No buildings, no light but the stars, no sounds of other humans.

I found what looked like a phone, but turned out to be a radio with instructions on how to use it. We radioed reception and asked for a pick-up. “How far is this hotel”, I wondered unpacking some of our luggage.

“We want to keep the resort car free”, explained our pick-up to the main house. We swished past stilted walkways. In the dark it was hard to make out any more details.

I don’t remember checking in, but I do recall the joys of the hot shower and the flickering light of candles and torches at dinner. Magical.

Garden View Tent

So now I think of travelling along dusty roads and arriving at this oasis and I have it instantly. The longing to go there, explore, relax and get away. I have an overwhelming need to check how much the flights to Broome are ($299 one way) and I imagine flashing my credit card, packing my bikini, a book, hop on the plane up the coast, drive an hour and a half from the airport south and arrive.

Eco Beach is an eco dream enclave sufficiently removed  from civilisation to wind you down. It’s a perfect combination of being in tune with nature and enjoying luxury comfort. So if you like your villa, house or tent it’s all here. Food, views, beach - all of it falls into the category of “nothing less than amazing”.

In my dream I’d hop into my bikini and swish down to the beach. Under shades I’d be lazing in one of the hammocks and look out over the coast.

Humpback Whale

If you’re not familiar with glamping, let me explain. This style of accommodation, a creation of the words glamour and camping, combines the comforts of a hotel room with ensuit and the sensation of sleeping (almost) outdoors. Breezes gently move the tarps of your walls. Well, the tarps are your walls.

Then, there’s mud crabbing, fishing, bird watching, kanuing and – most importantly – snoozing at the pool, in a hammock, at the beach and pretty much anywhere else you can have a nap.

Have you glamped before or been to Eco Beach? What’s your experience?

 

Feb 22

Black sheep surrounded by white sheep by Ionics
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How to Become a Local – Fitting in as an Expat

Living overseas is a huge personal and professional challenge. If you’ve done it yourself you’d probably agree there are few things more important than working towards fitting in as an expat. Because without putting in a little bit of elbow grease you will never feel at home.

If you know me personally you may find the following extremely amusing. After all, I’m usually the quirky one that doesn’t get all of the jokes, questions things others consider “normal” and sometimes simply can’t join some of the conversation about our favourite TV show when we were five (I have some, but most wouldn’t know them, so what’s the point?).

In other words, my fitting in rate is a work in progress. But that’s ok, I’m not a local and I still get asked where my accent is from and when I will be returning home. Whatever.

Despite all that, I do feel at home. Fitting in as an expat, or someone “fresh off the boat” as Australians like to call migrants, can be a bit daunting and scary. Rather than telling you the obvious challenges of language and culture I share my secret assimilation techniques (mostly) tried and tested.

Black sheep surrounded by white sheep by Ionics

Feeling like a black sheep – life as an expat. Photo by Ionics

Watch TV and lots of it

If you’re new in town your path to becoming a local will start on your couch.

News, local shows and advertisement is what people talk about. If you want to be able to join the conversation try to find out what the latest scoop is before talking about your favourite shows from home. It’s boring, nobody wants to know (I tried). People want to talk about what they know – and, well, their opinion about it.

Following news is quite self-explanatory. Even if politics sends you straight to sleep getting a sense of who the major politicians are and what’s going on is not a bad thing.

Weather forecasts not only tell you what you should wear the next day, but it also shoves you a map right under your nose every night showing you names of towns and their locations. Always comes in handy to know where Wagga Wagga is.

I personally refuse to watch soaps and advertisement, but there are quirky programs airing every now and then which I’m quite happy to consume. Very good TV spots are usually on YouTube so I get my best-off from the advertisement world from there.

I’ve even gone to the extend of googling old ads from 20 years ago to find out what people where talking about, but hey, I’m not only dedicated, curiosity is my middle-name.

Read children books and eat cookies

See, since I’ve spent my childhood and teenage years elsewhere it’s kind of essential to at least partially fill the gaps. Popular kids books, and by popular I mean “has been around for decades”, have shaped my peers.

Although there aren’t many occasions where nursery rhymes are sung in the office (although it’s happened) it does help to understand what makes people tick.

Food is a strong connection to memories. As a child you will have had your favourite treat – and a notorious ritual of how to eat it. Don’t believe me? Ask the next best Australian how they eat their Tim Tam’s or their thoughts on Wagon Wheels. Listen and watch. Even better, buy a pack and taste it yourself so you can relate.

Play, play, play any type of sport

Now, here is where my dedication of fitting in as an expat sadly ends. Chasing an oddly shaped ball or hanging out waiting for a batsman to do their thing – it’s just not my thing.

But hey, everybody is different. My lack of interest in sport is very Unaustralian, as this country is rightly called a sports crazy nation. So, if you want to fit in watch it, play it, talk about it. It’s definitely a great way to hook up with new people sharing the same interest.

I prefer books and bikkies.

Be indiscriminately curious

Even though sport doesn’t interest me I have made an effort and gone to a game. It was in Sydney. I can’t remember who played or won. And it doesn’t matter.

Whatever you come across at least TRY it before discarding it. Maybe you’re totally into music, but don’t know any of the local bands? Check them out. You’re walking past a nice looking eatery or hear people saying “Sizzlers is the best restaurant in town” – don’t shrug it off. Try it, taste it and find out yourself.

Word of warning

Just between you and me, there are many little quirks that people adore as “the best ever”, “it’s how it’s suppose to be”,  things they’ve “always done like that” or would “never do any differently”.

Whatever it is people talk about, if you’ve given it a go and decided it’s not for you, because your favourite childhood treat tasted ten times better than anything here – don’t try to convert the locals. It’s an argument you can’t and won’t win, ever.

I once brough a Stollen, a German christmas cake, to work with the mission to convince people of the flaws of local fruit cakes. My colleagues ate it. Some liked it. Mostly they picked on the pun whether the cake was purchased or stolen (get it?).

Always remember you’re the one who wants to fit in as an expat. You also have the privilege of being able to compare two cultures, which locals don’t. Instead of explaining why fruit cakes need marzipan use the diplomacy of an expat.

Accept that taste is subjective.

Also, nod and smile.

Any tips you want to share that helped you fitting in as an expat?

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